Globalization and Multiculturalism: Are Multicultural Democracies Possible in the Age of Globalism?

Abstract

Globalization and multiculturalism are two interconnected realities. Emigration from underdeveloped regions of the world to more developed ones is partly caused by growing economic inequalities. As a result, people with very different cultural backgrounds have come to, and settled in, Western societies. At the same time, globalization, as embodiment of economic neoliberalism, provokes the erosion both of the Welfare State and of social rights. As a consequence, inequalities are growing too inside developed countries. This means that cultural and socioeconomic integration of immigrants is hindered. On the whole, we may expect a setting where social justice and multicultural coexistence are threatened.